Six law firms that challenged Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s appointment of Collins Letsoalo as head of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) have lost their legal bid to have him axed from his position.
Saturday Star reports that Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) Judge Brenda Neukircher found that the lawyers and their firms did not have the legal standing to launch the application. She turned it down on this technicality and said it was thus not necessary for her to decide on the merits of the application.
The attorneys at the law firms, which include K Malao Inc, Senne Company Inc and Mabuse Attorneys, were all former RAF panel attorneys who were ousted more than a year ago. At the time, Letsoalo decided that the RAF was no longer going to use a panel of attorneys, so it could, among other reasons, save money.
The attorneys had argued that Letsoalo made several “misrepresentations” in his CV when he applied for the job. They argued that his appointment was irrational and should be set aside, adding many of their clients remained out of pocket, despite court orders that they must be compensated by the fund. According to them, a dysfunctional RAF adversely affects the rights of plaintiff attorneys in practising in the courts.
Neukircher was told the attorneys and their clients had an interest in an RAF, which was competently run and managed, and the appointment of Letsoalo “poses a threat to the proper functioning of the RAF”. In dismissing the application on a legal technicality, the judge also slapped the applicants with the RAF’s legal costs.
Saturday Star article – Attorneys lose court bid to oust RAF boss (Open access)
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